Gameweek 5 finally saw Tottenham Hotspur score but, as the hosts were already 3-0 down to Aston Villa, both strikes were merely consolations.
Villa’s first league win of the season means Spurs will stay rock bottom during this long international break
Here are our Fantasy Premier League (FPL) notes from Saturday lunchtime.
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MANZAMBI HAS ARRIVED
A meeting between teams with only one goal during their eight combined matches was about to, unsurprisingly, be 0-0 at half-time.
However, a few seconds after Andrew Robertson (£4.4m) successfully stopped the ball from going out for a corner, Johan Manzambi (£5.9m) tapped in Boubacar Kamara‘s (£5.0m) shot.
The big-money signing experienced a brilliant first Premier League start, racking up four shots (below) – three from inside the penalty area. In the 67th minute, he set up a superbly finished Nicolas Jackson (£6.5m) goal that doubled the lead.
Right now, half-time entrant Matty Cash (£4.4m) is the sole Villa player who exceeds 2.5% ownership. But as their fixtures improve between Gameweeks 9 and 17, Manzambi belongs on the watchlist of FPL managers.
PICKING A VILLA ATTACKER
As does Jackson – someone much cheaper than the striker he replaced (£8.0m Ollie Watkins).
This fourth league start under Unai Emery brought his first goal, on top of the one versus Club Brugge. Should the current popularity of Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m), Yoane Wissa (£6.2m) and Thierno Barry (£5.6m) fade away, Jackson is ready to step in.
Captain John McGinn (£5.4m) is a decent, low-priced deliverer of attacking returns, shown by Saturday’s second consecutive assist. He facilitated Emiliano Buendia‘s (£5.9m) latest goal against Spurs: an excellent long-ranger that made it 3-0.
Speaking of Buendia, he reached the defensive contributions (DefCon) threshold and totalled 12 points.
The 29-year-old is starting every league encounter but, once teammates get fit again, perhaps becomes a rotation risk.
On the other hand, rushing to buy a Villa attacker like Manzambi could be a bit hasty. They’re still the worst team for attempts (48), putting efforts on target (12), shots inside the box (30), big chances (six) and expected goals (xG, 4.53).
PORRO INJURY
As for Spurs, their start to 2026/27 has been shocking, but they actually began brightly here, forcing Zion Suzuki (£5.0m) into four saves within the opening 20 minutes.
There was also an element of unluckiness. When Villa broke the deadlock, Micky van de Ven (£5.0m) was briefly off the pitch after receiving medical treatment.
By that point, Pedro Porro (£5.4m) had already exited the match because of a hamstring problem. A Gameweek 4 absence, he made Roberto De Zerbi’s XI here, but lasted just 18 minutes.
“It’s a hamstring, I think. Hopefully it’s not a big problem.” – Roberto De Zerbi on Pedro Porro
Pretty much the only Spurs FPL interest comes at the back. Antonin Kinsky (£4.5m) joined Suzuki in collecting a save point, whereas Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.9m) lost points for a yellow card and conceding multiple times, but added six when heading in Robertson’s free kick right before the final whistle.
KUDUS CAMEO
Like Villa, the upcoming Spurs run looks nice, although it’s tough to identify a good route into their attack.
They’ve remembered how to score, but nobody is convincing. Savio (£6.5m) put three shots on target and created four others, as corner duties took him to 11 crosses. But you may recall he was 2024/25’s biggest xG underachiever (one goal, rather than 5.01).
The other recent arrival from Manchester City, Omar Marmoush (£7.0m), has started four games and put merely one shot on target.
Meanwhile, Mateus Fernandes (£5.7m) was taken off at half-time, and De Zerbi publicly criticised him afterwards.
“I didn’t like the performance of Mateus [Fernandes] today. Otherwise, I wouldn’t change. It’s not an attack of Mateus – I love Mateus – it’s not a problem, but I think we needed more from Mateus because he can [do] even more in that position.” – Roberto De Zerbi
Since his late March appointment, the Italian head coach keeps getting an unwarranted amount of media hype. Sure enough, it hasn’t taken long for him to start calling players out, doing the same to Dominic Solanke (£5.8m).
“The physical condition is not good enough, for sure.” – Roberto De Zerbi on Dominic Solanke
In Fernandes’ place came Mohammed Kudus (£6.5m). The Ghanaian still looks off-the-pace, yet thought he’d netted their first goal when scrambling in a low Robertson cross. VAR disagreed, deeming the full-back offside when reaching Sandro Tonali‘s (£5.3m) pass.
Undeterred, Kudus instead set up Spurs’ 86th-minute strike, beating a defender and squaring the ball for Conor Gallagher (£5.3m).
